Is Rebranding Really a Thing?

Some claim a company’s brand is its most valuable asset, while a logo can have a powerful impact on consumer behaviors. Household names like Coca-Cola, Tropicana and Gap are just a few examples of companies that have enjoyed tremendous success and endured rebranding failures. But how much can packaging, imagery and marketing tactics really inject new life into an unchanged product? And will a customer’s relationship with a brand really prevent them from buying into a competitor?

Featured Guests

Carolyn Massiah - Associate Chair, Department of Marketing, UCF College of Business

Episode Highlights

6:33 - What makes up a company's brand

13:58 - Why consumers form relationships with brands

17:55 - Reasons a company would benefit from a rebranding effort

29:11 - Tips to carry out a successful rebrand

40:56 - Dean Paul Jarley's final thoughts

Episode Transcription

Paul Jarley:                         FTU became UCF in 1978. Since that time would become the Knights, the Golden Knights, and the Knights again. Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC in 1991. Backrub became Google in 1997. Deloitte added a green dot in 2003. Tropicana changed the packaging of its orange juice in 2009 and then changed it back. CFE Credit Union became Addition Financial in 2019. In all but the first case, I'm pretty sure some rebranding genius got paid a fortune. But seriously, does any of this really matter?

Paul Jarley:                         This show is all about separating hype from fundamental change. I'm Paul Jarley. Dean of the College of Business here at UCF. I've got lots of questions. To get answers, I'm talking to people with interesting insights into the future of business. Have you ever wondered, "Is this really a thing?" Onto our show.

Paul Jarley:                         I've been known to tell staff in meetings that I'm not the dean of that. It's my way of letting people know that I think their issue isn't worth my time. I hit upon this phrase back in my days at the University of Kentucky. The college had just gone through a rebranding effort, and one of my colleagues didn't like our new stationary. He was refusing to use it, and he wanted me to tell the dean that he should get a pass. After listening to this for 20 minutes I told him that I refuse to be the associate dean of stationary and asked him to get out of my office. The phrase just stuck with me.

Paul Jarley:                         My marketing colleagues, on the other hand, would disagree with me. They think a company's brand is its most important asset and that any rebranding campaign is a process that is fraught with peril, like employees not embracing the change. Meh, maybe. Or maybe it's just a way for consultants to charge big bucks to help you design a new logo that they claim with rival the swoosh and make you the darlings of consumers everywhere.

Paul Jarley:                         A few weeks ago we hosted our last dean speaker series of the academic year, and given that our sponsor, CFE Credit Union, had just changed its name to Addition Financial, we thought it was the perfect time to have Dr. Caroline Massiah address the whole rebranding thing. It was such an engaging discussion that we decided to turn it into our latest podcast.

Carolyn Massiah:             I'm going to begin with a quick, funny travel story, and it will help us lead into the discussion.

Carolyn Massiah:             This past weekend I had to go, not had, I wanted to, I went to Boston. My goddaughter got married and, first of all, for those of us in Florida, when we travel anywhere, we forget that the rest of the world doesn't have the same weather all year around, so I experienced three seasons in three days in Boston.